Tennessee State Bird - Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos

By John James Audubon, F. R. SS. L. & E.

VOLUME II.

COMMON MOCKING-BIRD.
[Northern Mockingbird.]

ORPHEUS POLYGLOTTUS, Linn.
[Mimus polyglottos.]

PLATE CXXXVIII.--MALE AND FEMALE.

It is where the great magnolia shoots up its majestic trunk, crowned
with evergreen leaves, and decorated with a thousand beautiful flowers,
that perfume the air around; where the forests and fields are adorned with
blossoms of every hue; where the golden orange ornaments the gardens and
groves; where bignonias of various kinds interlace their climbing stems
around the white-flowered stuartia, and mounting still higher, cover the
summits of the lofty trees around, accompanied with innumerable vines,
that here and there festoon the dense foliage of the magnificent woods,
lending to the vernal breeze a slight portion of the perfume of their clustered
flowers; where a genial warmth seldom forsakes the atmosphere; where berries
and fruits of all descriptions are met with at every step;--in a word,
kind reader, it is where Nature seems to have paused, as she passed over
the earth, and opening her stores, to have strewed with unsparing hand
the diversified seeds from which have sprung all the beautiful and splendid
forms which I should in vain attempt to describe, that the Mocking-bird
should have fixed its abode, there only that its wondrous song should be
heard.

But where is that favoured land?--It is in this great continent.--It
is, reader, in Louisiana that these bounties of nature are in the greatest
perfection. It is there that you should listen to the love-song of the
Mocking-bird, as I at this moment do. See how he flies round his mate,
with motions as light as those of the butterfly! His tail is widely expanded,
he mounts in the air to a small distance, describes a circle, and, again
alighting, approaches his beloved one, his eyes gleaming with delight,
for she has already promised to be his and his only. His beautiful wings
are gently raised, he bows to his love, and again bouncing upwards, opens
his bill, and pours forth his melody, full of exultation at the conquest
which he has made.

They are not the soft sounds of the flute or of the hautboy that I hear,
but the sweeter notes of Nature's own music. The mellowness of the song,
the varied modulations and gradations, the extent of its compass, the great
brilliancy of execution, are unrivalled. There is probably no bird in the
world that possesses all the musical qualifications of this king of song,
who has derived all from Nature's self. Yes, reader, all!

No sooner has he again alighted, and the conjugal contract has been
sealed, than, as if his breast was about to be rent with delight, he again
pours forth his notes with more softness and richness than before. He now
soars higher, glancing around with a vigilant eye, to assure himself that
none has witnessed his bliss. When these love-scenes, visible only to the
ardent lover of nature, are over, he dances through the air, full of animation
and delight, and, as if to convince his lovely mate that to enrich her
hopes he has much more love in store, he that moment begins anew, and imitates
all the notes which nature has imparted to the other songsters of the grove.

For awhile, each long day and pleasant night are thus spent; but at
a peculiar note of the female he ceases his song, and attends to her wishes.
A nest is to be prepared, and the choice of a place in which to lay it
is to become a matter of mutual consideration. The orange, the fig, the
pear-tree of the gardens are inspected; the thick briar patches are also
visited. They appear all so well suited for the purpose in view, and so
well does the bird know that man is not his most dangerous enemy, that
instead of retiring from him, they at length fix their abode in his vicinity,
perhaps in the nearest tree to his window. Dried twigs, leaves, grasses,
cotton, flax, and other substances, are picked up, carried to a forked
branch, and there arranged. Five eggs are deposited in due time, when the
male having little more to do than to sing his mate to repose, attunes
his pipe anew. Every now and then he spies an insect on the ground, the
taste of which he is sure will please his beloved one. He drops upon it,
takes it in his bill, beats it against the earth, and flies to the nest
to feed and receive the warm thanks of his devoted female.

When a fortnight has elapsed, the young brood demand all their care
and attention. No cat, no vile snake, no dreaded Hawk, is likely to visit
their habitation. Indeed the inmates of the next house have by this time
become quite attached to the lovely pair of Mocking-birds, and take pleasure
in contributing to their safety. The dew-berries from the fields, and many
kinds of fruit from the gardens, mixed with insects, supply the young as
well as the parents with food. The brood is soon seen emerging from the
nest, and in another fortnight, being now able to fly with vigour, and
to provide for themselves, they leave the parent birds, as many other species
do.

The above account does not contain all that I wish you to know of the
habits of this remarkable songster; so, I shall shift the scene to the
woods and wilds, where we shall examine it more particularly.

The Mocking-bird remains in Louisiana the whole year. I have observed
with astonishment, that towards the end of October, when those which had
gone to the Eastern States, some as far as Boston, have returned, they
are instantly known by the "southrons," who attack them on all
occasions. I have ascertained this by observing the greater shyness exhibited
by the strangers for weeks after their arrival. This shyness, however,
is shortly over, as well as the animosity displayed by the resident birds,
and during the winter there exists a great appearance of sociality among
the united tribes.

In the beginning of April, sometimes a fortnight earlier, the Mocking-birds
pair, and construct their nests. In some instances they are so careless
as to place the nest between the rails of a fence directly by the road.
I have frequently found it in such places, or in the fields, as well as
in briars, but always so easily discoverable that any person desirous of
procuring one, might do so in a very short time. It is coarsely constructed
on the outside, being there composed of dried sticks of briars, withered
leaves of trees, and grasses, mixed with wool. Internally it is finished
with fibrous roots disposed in a circular form, but carelessly arranged.
The female lays from four to six eggs the first time, four or five the
next, and when there is a third brood, which is sometimes the case, seldom
more than three, of which I have rarely found more than two hatched. The
eggs are of a short oval form, light green, blotched and spotted with umber.
The young of the last brood not being able to support themselves until
late in the season, when many of the berries and insects have become scarce,
are stunted in growth;--a circumstance which has induced some persons to
imagine the existence in the United States of two species of Common Mocking-bird,
a larger and a smaller. This, however, in as far as my observation goes,
is not correct. The first brood is frequently brought to the bird-market
in New Orleans as early as the middle of April. A little farther up the
country, they are out by the fifteenth of May. The second brood is hatched
in July, and the third in the latter part of September.

The nearer you approach to the sea-shores, the more plentiful do you
find these birds. They are naturally fond of loose sands, and of districts
scantily furnished with small trees, or patches of briars, and low bushes.

During incubation, the female pays such precise attention to the position
in which she leaves her eggs, when she goes to a short distance for exercise
and refreshment, to pick up gravel, or roll herself in the dust, that,
on her return, should she find that any of them has been displaced, or
touched by the hand of man, she utters a low mournful note, at the sound
of which the male immediately joins her, and they are both seen to condole
together. Some people imagine that, on such occasions, the female abandons
the nest; but this idea is incorrect. On the contrary, she redoubles her
assiduity and care, and scarcely leaves the nest for a moment; nor is it
until she has been repeatedly forced from the dear spot, and has been much
alarmed by frequent intrusions, that she finally and reluctantly leaves
it. Nay, if the eggs are on the eve of being hatched, she will almost suffer
a person to lay hold of her.

Different species of snakes ascend to their nests, and generally suck
the eggs or swallow the young; but on all such occasions, not only the
pair to which the nest belongs, but many other Mocking-birds from the vicinity,
fly to the spot, attack the reptiles, and, in some cases, are so fortunate
as either to force them to retreat, or deprive them of life. Cats that
have abandoned the houses to prowl about the fields, in a half wild state,
are also dangerous enemies, as they frequently approach the nest unnoticed,
and at a pounce secure the mother, or at least destroy the eggs or young,
and overturn the nest. Children seldom destroy the nests of these birds,
and the planters generally protect them. So much does this feeling prevail
throughout Louisiana, that they will not willingly permit a Mocking-bird
to be shot at any time.

In winter, nearly all the Mocking-birds approach the farm-houses and
plantations, living about the gardens or outhouses. They are then frequently
seen on the roofs, and perched on the chimney-tops; yet they always appear
full of animation. Whilst searching for food on the ground, their motions
are light and elegant, and they frequently open their wings as butterflies
do when basking in the sun, moving a step or two, and again throwing out
their wings. When the weather is mild, the old males are heard singing
with as much spirit as during the spring or summer, while the younger birds
are busily engaged in practising, preparatory to the love season. They
seldom resort to the interior of the forest either during the day or by
night, but usually roost among the foliage of evergreens, in the immediate
vicinity of houses in Louisiana, although in the Eastern States they prefer
low fir trees.

The flight of the Mocking-bird is performed by short jerks of the body
and wings, at every one of which a strong twitching motion of the tail
is perceived. This motion is still more apparent while the bird is walking,
when it opens its tail like a fan and instantly closes it again. The common
cry or call of this bird is a very mournful note, resembling that uttered
on similar occasions by its first cousin the Orpheus rufus, or, as it is
commonly called, the "French Mocking-bird." When travelling,
this flight is only a little prolonged, as the bird goes from tree to tree,
or at most across a field, scarcely, if ever, rising higher than the top
of the forest. During this migration, it generally resorts to the highest
parts of the woods near water-courses, utters its usual mournful note,
and roosts in these places. It travels mostly by day.

Few Hawks attack the Mocking-birds, as on their approach, however sudden
it may be, they are always ready not only to defend themselves vigorously
and with undaunted courage, but to meet the aggressor half way, and force
him to abandon his intention. The only Hawk that occasionally surprises
it is the Astur Cooperii, which flies low with great swiftness, and carries
the bird off without any apparent stoppage. Should it happen that the ruffian
misses his prey, the Mocking-bird in turn becomes the assailant, and pursues
the Hawk with great courage, calling in the mean time all the birds of
its species to its assistance; and although it cannot overtake the marauder,
the alarm created by their cries, which are propagated in succession among
all the birds in the vicinity, like the watchwords of sentinels on duty,
prevents him from succeeding in his attempts.

The musical powers of this bird have often been taken notice of by European
naturalists, and persons who find pleasure in listening to the song of
different birds whilst in confinement or at large. Some of these persons
have described the notes of the Nightingale as occasionally fully equal
to those of our bird, but to compare her essays to the finished talent
of the Mocking-bird, is, in my opinion, quite absurd.

The Mocking-bird is easily reared by hand from the nest, from which
it ought to be removed when eight or ten days old. It becomes so very familiar
and affectionate, that it will often follow its owner about the house.
I have known one raised from the nest kept by a gentleman at Natchez, that
frequently flew out of the house, poured forth its melodies, and returned
at sight of its keeper. But notwithstanding all the care and management
bestowed upon the improvement of the vocal powers of this bird in confinement,
I never heard one in that state produce any thing at all approaching in
melody to its own natural song.

The male bird is easily distinguished in the nest, as soon as the brood
is a little fledged, it being larger than the female, and showing more
pure white. It does not shrink so deep in the nest as the female does,
at the sight of the hand which is about to lift it. Good singing birds
of this species often bring a high price. They are long-lived and very
agreeable companions. Their imitative powers are amazing, and they mimic
with ease all their brethren of the forests or of the waters, as well as
many quadrupeds. I have heard it asserted that they possess the power of
imitating the human voice, but have never met with an instance of the display
of this alleged faculty.

Upper parts greyish-brown; feathers of the wings and tail greyish-black;
tips of secondary coverts, edges of primary quills, and a large spot at
the end of the three lateral tail-feathers, white; lower parts whitish,
marked with triangular dusky spots, of which there is a distinct line from
the base of the bill; throat, middle of the breast, abdomen, and lower
tail-coverts unspotted.

In an adult male of this celebrated bird, the roof of the mouth is flat,
with two narrow longitudinal palatal ridges, and an anterior median prominent
line; the posterior aperture of the nares is oblongo-linear, margined with
acute papillae, with which also the whole membrane of the palate is covered.
The tongue is slender, 7 twelfths long, emarginate and papillate at the
base, channelled above, horny and thin toward the end, which is slit and
lacerated. The width of the mouth is 6 twelfths. The oesophagus, is 3 inches
long, and of the nearly uniform width of 4 1/2 twelfths, unless at the
commencement where it is a little wider. The proventricular glands form
a belt 5 twelfths of an inch in breadth. The stomach, [c d e], is rather
small, broadly elliptical, 9 twelfths long, 7 1/2 twelfths broad, considerably
compressed; its muscular coat moderately developed, the right muscle being
1 1/2 twelfths thick, the left 1 twelfth; the epithelium dense, tough,
reddish-brown, with seven longitudinal rugae on one side and three on the
other. The intestine, [e f g h i j k], is of moderate length and width;
the duodenum, [e f g], curves at the distance of 1 1/4 inches, and is 3
twelfths wide, as is the rest of the intestine, of which the entire length
is 9 1/2 inches; the cloaca, [k], very little enlarged; the coeca, [i],
2 twelfths long, and 1/2 twelfth broad, their distance from the extremity
8 twelfths.

The right lobe of the liver is very large, being 1 inch 1 1/2 twelfths
in length, and extending under the anterior part of the stomach, in the
form of a thin-edged rounded lobe; the left lobe is 10 twelfths long, and
lies under the proventriculus and left side of the stomach. The heart is
of moderate size, 7 1/2 twelfths long, 5 twelfths in breadth, of a conical
obtuse form.

The aperture of the glottis is 1 1/2 twelfths long, and furnished with
the same muscles as the other singing birds, viz. the thyro-arytenoideus,
which passes from the edge of the thyroid cartilage at its lower part to
be inserted into the tip and sides of the arytenoid cartilage; the thyro-cricoideus,
which passes from the anterior edge of the thyroid backward to the cricoid;
a small muscle, the crico-arytenoideus, which assists in closing the glottis;
and several small slips similar to those observed in other Thrushes, and
especially in the Crows, in which the parts, being larger, are more easily
seen. The trachea is 1 inch 10 twelfths in length, considerably flattened,
gradually tapering from 1 1/2 twelfths to 1 twelfth; the rings, which are
firm, are about 60, and 2 dimidiate rings. The lateral muscles are slender,
as are the sterno-tracheal. There are four, pairs of inferior laryngeal
muscles; an anterior, going to the tip of the first half-ring, another
to the tip of the second, a third broader and inserted into a portion of
the last half-ring, the fourth or posterior or upper, long, narrow, and
inserted into the point of the same half-ring. Besides these, as in all
the land-birds, there is a pair of very slender muscles, the cleido-tracheal,
arising from the sides of the thyroid cartilage and inserted into the furcula.
The bronchi are rather wide and short, of 12 cartilaginous half rings.

As in all the birds of this family, there is a very slender salivary
gland on each side, lying between the branch of the lower jaw and the mucous
membrane of the mouth, upon which latter it opens anteriorly to the frenum
of the tongue. This species is abundant in the Texas, where it breeds.
The eggs are generally one inch in length, and nine-twelfths and a quarter
in breadth. THE FLORIDA JESSAMINE.

A climbing shrub, with smooth lanceolate leaves, axillary clusters of
yellow flowers, which are funnel-shaped, with the limb spreading and nearly
equal, the calyx five-toothed, the capsule two-celled and two-valved. It
grows along the sea-coast, especially near rivers, from Virginia to Florida,
flowering through the summer. The flowers are fragrant. It is also named
Carolina jessamine and yellow jessamine.